Wow....long time no blog! Sorry guys. It's been crazy this first month since the boys have been home. Tons of changes for our 2 year old of course and she is just starting to act out a bit which is to be expected. She is really good with the boys and is already trying to help them with things. When one of the boys is crying, she finds a pacifier and shoves it in their mouth or puts a blanket over them to keep them warm. She always kisses them before she goes to bed at night without being prompted which is pretty cute and if you ask her where her brother's are, she points to one and then the other.
I can tell you that two newborn baby's put together are easier than caring for one 2 year old! Two is a hard age for sure and I honestly dont know how Im going to cope when I have two 2 year old's testing me and a 4 year old to boot. I have heard some people say "the terrible two's" AND the f***ing four's!", ha ha. It's difficult because Brooklyn can see me nursing one of the boys on the couch and knows I cant always get up to discipline her right away for something so she is trying to get away with murder. I try to de-latch the baby, put the baby down and follow through but if I did that every time Brooklyn needed me to take something away from her or discipline her, the baby's would NEVER eat so I can only follow through part of the time. Its frustrating for sure so I pick my battles wisely.
The baby's eat every 3 hour during the day and are awake more and more all the time now. They are very different already as Ryder seems to be the laid back baby, chills out on his own all the time and seems pretty low key but Cruz is a lot more sensitive and is upset frequently if he isnt being held and snuggled. They both love to be cuddled! I could really use more arms and more breasts so Im wondering what Santa can make happen for me this Christmas! ha ha. Actually, what I really want for Christmas is more sleep!!!! lol.
I dont know how I would get through this without my Mom here 3 days a week and my Aunt has really come through for me too:) The days Im on my own are very overwhelming but I have accepted the fact that the baby's are going to need to learn patience and learn how to wait their turn to eat but the only problem with that this early in the game is that they get so upset, they hold their breathe and turn blue! They have that dreaded silent cry and I cant let them get that worked up so I HAVE to pick them up when they are that distraught. Blue is not a good color on your baby when it's their face and their lips that are blue!! Brooklyn did that a few times as a newborn but I think it's more common in prems! (ie. premie's).
Everyone asks us if we can tell them apart and the answer to that is "most of the time". Chris on the other hand has more trouble telling them apart but when they are dressed and have hats on, neither of us can tell them apart! If it's dark in the middle of the night, I have to turn the light on to check the hair to make sure I know which baby I have because they have different needs when it comes to eating and comfort. The key to telling them apart is their hair. Cruz has lighter, thinner hair and Ryder's is darker and has a small bald spot where the nurses shaved it to start an IV. They also have different birth marks that are a dead give away but you can only see those when they are in their diapers so those aren't helpful on a regular basis.
On average, I change between 20-26 diapers A DAY!!!! Three kids, all in diapers and of course newborns go through diapers quite frequently because they digest breast milk incredibly fast! We are hoping to start potty training with Brooklyn but we aren't rushing her and she is starting to sit on the potty on her own so she should be out of diapers in a few months hopefully but only time will tell. We simply dont want to overwhelm her with changes because as you can imagine, her world has been turned upside down.
Chris and I did something really cool.....a friend of mine emailed me about her kid's talent agency looking for a 3 legged dog this past summer (Thanks Carissa:) so I emailed her agent some photo's of our 3 legged pooch (aka. "Tri-Pod dog" or "Roxy") and she was chosen for the movie but the gig only paid $35 and since that wouldn't even pay my gas to the set, I declined the opportunity (too bad, I thought Roxy was going to be a 3 legged STAR! ha ha). I had mentioned to the agent that I had just had twin boys and that I would rather spend the day visiting with them in the NICU than participating in the dog job at which time he asked me if I was interested in using our baby's in a movie at the end of September that needed newborn twin boys. I told him if the opportunity was suitable (ie. location, requirements of them, whether or not Chris had those days off work and adequate profit) that we may be open to it so he asked me to submit a few photo's of them, which I did (even though they still had nasogastric tubes in). Every couple of weeks the agent would ask for an updated photo of the boys and by Mid September he informed me that the boys were chosen for the movie at the end of the month!
What I didn't know was the calibre of this movie nor did I know the title until after they were chosen and all I can tell you is that it's the biggest movie to come through Vancouver in years and if there was ONE movie I had to choose for my boys to be in, this would be it! We spent two days on set filming and it was A LOT of work and a lot of sitting around in Cruz and Ryder's trailer waiting for their scene! I dont think we would do it again since we had to daycare Brooklyn for 2 days and had to arrange for someone to pick her up since the shooting went WAY over the expected call time and it was a bit of a nightmare that way. Eight hours is a very long time to be in a trailer with two newborn baby's and the trailer wasn't equipped for baby's so the second day we lugged a lot of baby gear down there with us. Overall, the experience blew us away because one of the best actor's of our generation was holding and kissing the baby's and shooting the breeze with Chris and I....including the world famous director and his wife. It was fun, they were very kind to us, fed us and everyone drooled over the boys. The cast and crew asked us on numerous occasions how we got "this gig" and they all laughed and high fived us when I told them it all started with our 3 legged dog! ha ha.
I'm so happy that everything with the boys at home is going well. I've checked back a few times too see if you've updated what life with all 3 at home has been like, as I'm only months away from a similar situation. We recently found out we are also having two boys and our daughter may (or may not) be two when they arrive.
ReplyDeleteYour film experience sounds fun, but also exhausting - still what a neat story to have for the future.
I emailed you a few months ago regarding the ABC Adventure Buggy - we haven't ordered our yet...I just wanted to get a little closer to the date...but I was wondering if you had a chance to use yours yet?
Anyways, glad to hear everything is well! Take care and I hope you get some more sleep soon!
I have used the stroller. It is great but I also love my $25 used, Graco Snap 'N' Go stroller as well which is great for the first 3 months until their legs get too long for the snap 'n' go to be functional.
ReplyDeleteThe ABC Adventure buggy is great for three kids although my daughter is already almost too big for it and she's only 2 years old (but she is the size of a 3 or 4 year old). I find the best logistics for my three kids is the biggest kid up top in a reclining toddler seat and the newborn twins down below because if she is below she tends to push on the seats hanging over top her head which could injure one of the baby's. Also, when she is on top she tends to kick her legs and that is a no-no because her legs are long enough to kick her brothers in the head when they are both in the bottom fully reclined. Once the baby's are bigger and have more neck control a little movement is no big deal but they are still only 10 lbs each right now.
All in all, this is a great stroller but it is VERY heavy (about 30 lbs+)and it barely fits in our Dodge Grand Caravan (we have to lower the hand bars all the way and put it in sideways to be able to close the door of our van-a PAIN!). Good Luck and let me know if you go ahead and order it:)....more importantly, keep me posted on your twins:)